Nearly 175 years ago today, the Seneca Falls Convention was held in New York. With all the current turmoil revolving around voter’s rights (Georgia, Texas and H.R. 1), it seems apropos to look at that moment in time and see how far our democracy has come.
On July 20, 1848, during the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton read a sort-of state of the union for women including grievances and twelve demands for equality, patterned after the Declaration of Independence called the Declaration of Sentiments. The culmination of this manifesto was twelve resolutions focused on women’s rights. Resolutions regarding equanimity in legal and property rights passed unanimously. Moreover, all of the resolutions that descried an inequality in educational and employment opportunities were also recognized unanimously. In fact, eleven of the twelve resolutions were uncontested and approved in this group of sixty-eight women and thirty-two men. It was only the resolution for women’s suffrage that passed on a simple majority, because it was deemed much too controversial. So during a convention focused on the inequalities facing women, people still believed that giving women the right to vote was a bridge too far. As a matter of fact, upon some criticism and derision directed at the suffrage components, many of the men that signed the Declaration of Sentiments later took their names off.
A lot has changed since then. With the two-party structure, lobbyist-designed gerrymandering, the obsolete electoral college system and the vastness of the voting battle field, it seems that one vote doesn’t mean as much as it did. That being said, the one constant in our democracy seems to be an energy (held by the powers-that-be) to limit voting rights. It seems like even with all the inclusions in our political process contrived to devalue the vote, those in power still seem to hunt for that elusive last bastion of democracy: the vote itself. Since 1848, that singular vote has been attacked by poll taxes, competency tests, segregation, intimidation culture/domestic terrorism, an oppressive patriarchy and that good old-fashioned American wealth disparity. And since 1848, the rich have gotten richer and the governing bodies of this country have maintained a stranglehold on power and resources, while only glacially changing the demographics within that landscape. It seems that the vote will always be under attack for the benefit of the entrenched political class. But maybe I need more faith. Maybe the system needs more time to work on reflecting the powerful diversity stretched across this country. Maybe the ruling class and the bureaucrats that aid them will realize that the people of this country draw strength, resilience and dynamism from our differences and that that is the secret ingredient in winning the future. Or maybe I will be back here for the 200th anniversary of Seneca Falls still waiting for the first female president*.
*Scoreboard: 1 – African-American President, 0 – Female Presidents, 0 – Hispanic/Latin American Presidents, 0 – Openly Gay Presidents, 0 – Asian-American Presidents, 0 – Jewish Presidents …. 0…0…0…0….
Strip Clubs are Sad Discos 